Part 18 (1/2)
Gloria's voice surprised Kristine. She scrambled to her feet, finding Gloria standing just off the trail. She'd been so absorbed talking to Gary that she hadn't even seen her approach, and she blended into the scene in her green and tan uniform. Her face was flushed from the exertion of the hike, and the pink on her cheeks under her ball cap instantly recalled for Kristine how beautiful she looked post-o.r.g.a.s.m, splayed next to her in bed. Her own cheeks flushed red, so she tried to redirect her thoughts. ”I wondered if you'd catch us during lunch.”
”When you said you were stopping at Shadow, I took that as a challenge.” She shrugged out of her pack and leaned it against a tree before hiking up to where Kristine had been lunching. They sat together in silence for a few minutes, Gloria with a sly smile perched on her lips.
”What are you smiling at?” Kristine finally asked, b.u.mping her shoulder.
”I thought you were s.e.xy in those short cowboy chaps you wear...”
”c.h.i.n.ks,” Kristine said.
”Yeah, I thought you were s.e.xy in your c.h.i.n.ks, but that's nothing compared to hearing you give a photography lesson.”
Kristine wrinkled her brow, puzzled.
”I think I need a private lesson on release.”
The blush she'd been fighting to hide flushed crimson. ”I don't think you need any help there, if I recall correctly,” she whispered.
”Don't go hiding behind your hat,” Gloria said.
”Yes, ma'am,” Kristine answered, bringing her eyes back to Gloria's.
”For someone so tough, you sure blush easily.”
”I'm not so tough.” Kristine studied Gloria, loving how the lake and the sky made her eyes all the more blue. Too tempted to resist, she leaned over and kissed her quickly. She pulled away and slid back into professional mode, scanning the area for her students. ”Want my apple or cookie?”
”Apple,” Gloria said, accepting the food as well as the segue. ”How's your trip shaping up?”
”It's going to be a long one. I don't know where Leo found this woman, Trish, to cook. Her jeans go so high-water when she's in the saddle that they show off all of her hiking boot. Hiking boots on a horse,” she said, disgusted. ”This morning I wanted to talk to the group about what equipment they'd want to pack in their saddlebags, so I thought she could get the horses ready for the trail. I said, 'You might want to check cinches before we get back.' She gave me this blank look and said, 'Sure. Just tell me which one is Cinches, and I'll check 'im.'”
”You're making that up.”
”I wish I was. After our first rest, she asked me if I could make the thingies her feet were in shorter. Shouldn't an employee know what a stirrup is? I don't know what they'd have done if Nan was with them. She didn't know anything about stock.” She wished that talking about her job would get her brain to stop thinking about how much she wanted to kiss Gloria again. Gloria wasn't helping at all. As she listened, her eyes kept drifting down to Kristine's lips, increasing Kristine's desire to lower Gloria back onto the soft bed of pine needles where...
”Daggummit!” Nard's annoyed voice rang through the trees. ”Teeny! Where the h.e.l.l are you?”
Kristine shot an apologetic look at Gloria as she stood.
”It's okay,” Gloria said. ”I'll catch up with you guys at the campsite. Thanks for the fruit.”
Her expression suggested it was the kiss, not the apple she was thinking about, making it even harder for Kristine to answer Nard's page.
”Teeny!”
Reluctantly, Kristine waved goodbye and jogged down the trail to see what had him so worked up. ”Up here,” she shouted once she hit the trail.
”What the h.e.l.l? Why are you all the way over here and not with the stock?”
”I've got my students,” she said, exasperated. He never would have expected Nan to do more than ride her horse. Since she was already annoyed, Kristine took the opportunity to share her displeasure of the cook they had hired. ”I left Trish with the stock. After I showed her how to tie them up since she was just tying a square knot at the base of a tree...”
”Well she's not with the stock, and that Lumpy horse you insisted on bringing is kicking the s.h.i.+t out of whatever it is you're riding.” He looked pointedly from Kristine up the hill to Gloria. ”Sorry to interrupt...”
”When my students are finished with this lesson we'll be along.” She wanted to redirect his attention.
”There's no crazy bear up here at all, is there? That was just something the bear lady spun for my dad, so you two could have a backcountry lovefest?”
”You might want to give listening to what she's got to say a try. She's out here because she's worried we're putting people at risk. For starters, we could camp at Gladys instead of Rosalie. These riders could easily go the extra distance today.”
”No go. It'll mess up our travel day and layover. We camp at Rosalie.”
”You're the boss,” she said, hoping her tone wouldn't goad him, not liking the look on his face when she said it.
As she figured, when she and her students returned to the horses, they were fine. Proud that she hadn't bent to Nard's goading, she did consider being more careful about the direction her thoughts so easily traveled. She didn't regret that things with Gloria had progressed, but she reminded herself that now more than ever she needed to concern herself with Nard who felt like the real backcountry threat.
Chapter Twenty-Eight.
Gloria spent the day hiking out from the campsite the Lodge always used by Rosalie Lake trying to determine what direction the bear had headed after tras.h.i.+ng the camp. She radioed Rick and was glad that he said he'd stop to check in with her after he was finished up at Gladys. He'd spent the last few days talking to all of the hikers and campers in the area. None reported contact with the bear, which of course Nard took as an all clear. His condescending look said he doubted her competence, and the way he looked from her to Kristine told her that he suspected something between them. Even though she had wanted nothing more than to sit and hash out the day with Kristine, she didn't stay longer than she had to, reluctant to give Nard any ammunition.
As the sun set, she built a small fire to heat up her dinner, and sat jotting in her field notebook. She was spooked enough to have her gun at hand. Instead of making her feel confident about the safety of the campers in the area, the bear's aloofness disturbed her more, adding evidence to her argument that the bear's behavior had changed drastically. Had he returned, she would know that the animal was becoming food-conditioned. This they would treat with rubber bullet spankings or relocation. By not returning, the bear's afternoon camp tras.h.i.+ng fell further outside of normal behavior. There was no easy way to tell what was happening with the animal, but of one thing she was certain: his behavior did not seem right. The sharp crack of a stick brought her to her feet, gun in hand.
”Don't shoot! It's me, Kristine.”
Gloria let out the breath she'd been holding. ”G.o.d, you scared me.”
”Sorry. I wanted to chat with you earlier at the campsite, but Nard...”
”I know. He was watching me too.” Gloria saw that Kristine's hands were full. ”What do you have?”
”Not the world's worst coffee, but close.” She handed Gloria the steaming mug. ”And some cherry pie. That Jorge made, so you can trust it.”
Gloria accepted the offering and sat back down on her sleeping bag, inviting Kristine to join her with the tilt of her chin. She dug in.
Kristine pointed to her notebook. ”Anything new?”
”No. I really shouldn't let you keep feeding me like this. You're spoiling me.”
”Only child, shouldn't you be used to it?”
”My parents didn't spoil me, just made me independent.”
Kristine stared into the fire so long Gloria wondered if she'd said something wrong. ”I wish I could say the same.”
”You seem pretty independent to me.”